Breakfast conversation is always important on board "Body and Soul". Decisions about what we do each day are made over porridge, tea, toast and Marmite, marmalade, fruit and yoghourt etc - and, on Sundays, we delight in "the full-monte" (ie bacon, egg and tomato or similar.) as we listen to what the world outside is doing, by courtesy of digital Radio 4.
Spud and Teddy, who look forward to this routine, enjoy toast and Marmite tit-bits. Begging is forbidden of course. Would you believe that we have been eating fresh local strawberries even now - in late October! They are delicious.
Here's Pierre (retired restaurateur and fisherman) who comes from Bordeaux every day to fish at Meilhan.
Yesterday, for instance, during breakfast we talk about our aging physiques and minor ailments and what we are going to do about them. The French health service has been sending us reminders about the various tests they like to perform on the "elderly" - prevention is better than cure ..and all that.
We are both becoming more aware of our age. I was made more conscious of this when yesterday I couldn't make the new egg-timer work without my glasses. There are constant reminders of this inevitable process. It's all going to be up-hill and we have to be sensible about what to expect. But it's more important not to worry about it and to enjoy the life that we lead to the full. It is comforting to know that we are definitely in the right place to do that.
My lemon tree which we have grown from a small cutting,
We must put it inside for the winter
A view of our garden from the roof of Body and Soul
We plan a visit to Marmande market in "Bumble", our much loved van which I have now repainted and repaired after a couple of posts, embedded in concrete, had an argument with Lucie as she reversed out of the post office car park.
Lucie has just returned from a fortnight of caring for grand-children in Wiltshire and we need to restock the fridge after my efforts to stay alive during her absence.
We take the dogs with us - they love to stick their noses out of the windows on either side as we streak along at 30 mph, "en route" to Marmande. Then we enjoy a morning walk in the secret garden that I have found quite near to the market square. The French are so good at looking after their public spaces, just as they are bad - as another pertinent generalisation - at looking after their private houses. This particular secret garden has a small river running through it and several streams with tasteful paths, many mature trees of various common varieties and plenty of bird life. It just isn't the ubiquitous municipal park! We meet no-one else although on market day, perhaps that is not surprising. We return to Meilhan after having a cafe creme at our usual bar, looking out on to the market place, loaded with fresh fruit and veg. for the week. A lovely start to Saturday on a dramatically colourful autumn morning.
Talking of drama.... In late September, brother Robert and Di come to stay on board for five days, carrying relief supplies of Marmite from the UK, having driven down from Dover in their car. One of the features of their stay is our trip in Body and Soul to Lagruere which is a very small village East of us by some 15 kilometres - Not a stressful journey with only 4 locks. We have a delightful dinner at the canal side restaurant there and return the next day after a free mooring just beside the restaurant, for the night. The weather is fine and an early start for the trip back is peaceful enough, enveloped as we are, in beautiful autumnal scenes whilst we chug slowly back to Meilhan.
Then, just past the lock at Caumont, with Rob at the tiller, there is a serious bump and horrible scraping sound beneath us. Body and Soul is not happy but appears to be undamaged by the experience which we put down to, possibly a sunken supermarket trolly. She continues apparently unharmed and eventually we reach home base with no more incidences.
Upon our return we hear that Doug and Sally whom we have only just passed, going in the opposite direction in their boat, Poseidon, have hit the same object and, because of their deeper draft, are stuck fast - they are neither able to move forward nor aft. They ring Mike at the Capitainerie as a first attempt to enlist help to extract themselves from the middle of the canal. Mike then calls Lucie to help with his call, in French, to the Canal Authorities - the VNF. There does indeed appear to be a dangerous object in the middle of the canal which should not be there.
The conclusion of this story is shocking. An army of police, firemen, divers, a large crane and a number of VNF officials, descend on to the site and discover an upturned car in the canal. There is a dead body in it ! Clearly, this is the object that we slid over as we came back to Meilhan. What a drama !
For us it was a lucky escape. Not so, for Doug and Sally in Poseidon and certainly not for the poor guy in the car.
Never mind the Marmite, life really isn't all plain sailing, y'know - is it?
Postscript: Doug and Sally in Poseidon are lifted off the car which was upside down in the canal and find, to their relief, that there is no damage to their boat.
Talking of Marmite - the French just don't know what they are missing. Have they ever tried Marmite on croissants or baguettes with lashings of beurre doux? Delicious! And now we have Nigella Lawson with her great recipe, Spaghetti with Marmite. (click on this for this..) Ok, it's fairly high in salt, but a good dose of Marmite each day gives one plenty of vitamin B12 (good stuff for high alcohol consumption) and for preventing mosquito bites. No?....really! Believe me, it works..
http://tillersandtastebuds.typepad.com/tillers_and_tastebuds/spaghetti-with-marmite.html
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